noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The breastbone, consisting of the manubrium, gladiolus, and xiphoid process.

   "The neckline fell into a V, showing the bone of his sternum."

2. 2
   the flat bone that articulates with the clavicles and the first seven pairs of ribs wordnet
3. 3
   The sclerotized ventral plate of spiders, between the coxae, marking the floor of the cephalothorax.

Synonyms

All synonyms

bonebreastbonebreastbone

Example

More examples

"In the hummingbird the wishbone is light and weak and so short that it does not come near the sternum."

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin sternum, related to Old English steorn (“forehead”), German Stirn (“forehead”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.